Now I Can Eat
by casey26334
Summary: How exactly would Haymitch and Effie deal with a stubborn Katniss? Calm conversation right? Of course not. It's never that easy.


**So this is my first Hunger Games fic, hopefully I did the series justice. Nothing belongs to me of course. Enjoy! Reviews are always welcomed!**

If she could just stay there forever she would. The warmth and comfort of the Capitol sheets wrapped around her as she snuggled deeper into the pillows. All she wanted was to ignore the chaos around her. She didn't want to be pulled in twenty different directions, everyone needing something else from her. She couldn't do it. She just didn't have the energy or the will to be paraded in front of thousands of people who were awaiting her death. She wondered what her mother and sister were doing back home, wondered if they were still upset, or if they were hiding their emotions, trying to be strong for one another.

She heard a knock on the door. "Wake up wake up! It's going to be a big, big, big day!"

_Ugggg….._ _Effie. Go away._ She thought to herself. The ever-cheery woman in pink who ran around the train yelling schedules and itineraries at everyone was just another reminder of what was to come.

These people were not going to control what little was left of her life. The handful of Capitol workers that she had met were already becoming too much to handle. Although she had volunteered to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games, an action of which she would readily repeat, she knew she was being sent to die. She knew she was just a piece in the Capitol's sick Games. Her death was just entertainment for them because they weren't the ones left behind to suffer. No, if one thing was for certain, she wasn't going to make this easy for them. She would make them hate her as much as she hated them. She would think of a plan later, but for now, she was content to make them have to break through the door to pull her out of bed.

* * *

"She should be here by now!" Effie complained from the dining car where she was waiting with Peeta and Haymitch. "I woke her up 28.3 minutes ago, this is unacceptable."

Unsure of what to do, Peeta looked to Haymitch, only to see him roll his eyes and take a long drink from his bottle. I suppose if you work with someone like Effie for so long you find ways to ignore her constant shrieking.

"Alright, I'm going to go get her." Effie declared with another glance to her watch and a sigh.

She leaves Peeta and Haymitch behind and marches down the hall to Katniss' room. As Katniss lay in the bed she could hear Effie's signature heels coming down the hall. She knew exactly what was coming and pulled the sheets over her head to block out the sound.

Effie knocks on the door again, this time with a little more force and determination.

"Katniss," Effie says through the door and waits for the answer she has a feeling will never come. "Katniss please tell me you are awake!" Effie glances at her watch as the panic of being off-schedule begins to set in. "We only have 27 minutes to eat and be ready to watch the previous Games!"

Katniss grumbled and silently mimicked Effie's words from her hideout.

The silence coming from the room was beginning to push Effie too far.

"Katniss at least say SOMETHING so I know you aren't dead!"

"GO AWAY!" Effie heard screamed from inside the room.

"KATN—" Effie stopped, took a deep breath, and smoothed out her unwrinkled skirt. _Do not yell. That is no way for a lady to act. Do not yell. Do not get mad. Breathe Effie, breathe…_

"We are going to wait. You have exactly 5 minutes to get down to breakfast. You do not want to push me any farther young lady. Do you understand?"

Katniss was a little taken aback by Effie's sudden seriousness.

"Fine."

Effie breathed a sigh of relief at the acknowledgement. She turned on her heels and marched back down the corridor, not fully believing, but at least hoping that Katniss would show up on time.

"Oh you have got to be kidding Trinket!" Haymitch grumbled as Effie returned the dining car alone.

"She's coming" Effie said, trying to sound confident. Controlling disrespectful children was not what she signed up for nor was it something she was good at. Keeping schedules and promoting her tributes, _that's_ what she was good at.

"I'm starving. I'm eating." Haymitch stubbornly said as he turned towards the buffet filled with enormous amounts of food.

"No you will not Haymitch! We are waiting and are going to eat together! It's the polite thing to do!" Effie screeched.

"Polite my ass Trinket! Do you see this?" He yells as he shoves his empty bottle of liquor in her face, "_This_ is empty! And when _this_ runs out so does my patience!"

This was just not Effie's morning. _I can't do this. I desperately need a promotion to get out of this hell hole. I bet the District 3 tributes and mentors don't act this way. _

Out of the corner of her eye Effie can see Peeta who has suddenly become extremely interested in the carpeted floor; she looks back to Haymitch who is still shouting.

"… and I'm starving, so unless you want me to…"

She tunes him out again. _Hell, the District 11 people can't be this bad. I'd gladly take them, anything else!_

"…so you had better get me something else to drink!" A few seconds pass and Effie stares at Haymitch, her eyes full of contempt, but he's too wound up and out of breath from his outburst to even notice.

"Well?" he demands.

Effie takes a deep breath, calming herself. She speaks slowly in a low, controlled voice, "You are setting a bad example for the boy…" She doesn't know why she says it, Haymitch has never been "perfect example" material, and most certainly has never been a good influence on anybody. But at the moment it's all she can muster without taking the bottle and breaking it over Haymitch's head. _At least it would shut him up…_

Haymitch's mouth drops and he gives Effie a disbelieving look. Even he doesn't understand what the point of her statement was, but what he doesn't know is how extremely close he is to being attacked by a very small pink-haired woman.

They stay like this for a few moments, simply staring one another down. The silence causes Peeta to lift his head slightly to make sure they hadn't killed one another while he had been counting the fibers in the carpet.

Suddenly a growl emits from Haymitch's stomach, and his face turns from confused to stern. He slams his empty bottle onto the dining table, "That's it. I'm going to get her."

He quickly brushes past Effie and starts to make his way down the hall with fierce and impatient footsteps. Effie turns to Peeta who is looking more overwhelmed by the second before spinning on her heels and making her way towards Katniss' room.

She turns the corner just in time to see Haymitch slam his fist against the door twice.

"KATNISS!" He doesn't wait for a reply before continuing. "KATNISS EVERDEEN YOU HAD BETTER OPEN THIS DOOR **NOW **OR I SWEAR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN! I WILL DRAG YOU OUT OF THERE IF I HAVE TO!"

He pauses for just a moment and turns to see Effie coming up to his side. _I just don't see why he thinks yelling is the solution to everything, _Effie thinks to herself.

"I don't think she's coming out," Effie says.

Haymitch turns to look at her and quickly spats, "You think?" Effie just rolls her eyes and takes a step back, more than ready to watch him make a fool of himself.

Haymitch takes a deep breath then backs away from the door slightly, keeping his hand on the doorknob. A moment later he slams his body against the door then begins to step back again when Effie shouts, "What are you _doing_?"

Haymitch looks at her and says very matter-of-factly, "I'm breaking down the door."

"You can't break down the door on the Capitol's train!"

"Watch me," he challenges.

Haymitch proceeds to slam his body weight against the door three more times before it finally gives way. He stumbles into the room just in time to see Katniss shout, "GO AWA-" but her scream is cut short at the sight of Haymitch tumbling into her room. She immediately bolts upright in bed, somewhat feeling the need to jump off the train to safety now that the door wasn't between her and Haymitch's anger.

Katniss barely registers the sight of Effie standing in the hallway, mouth open and eyes wide.

Haymitch gathers himself and in two long strides reaches the bed that just a few minutes ago was the only feeling of safety Katniss had.

"What are you-"Katniss' cries are cut off when Haymitch forcefully wraps his arms around her middle and begins pulling her from the bed. Katniss reaches for anything she can get her hands on- pillows, sheets, blankets, anything that will keep her from being dragged away from her cocoon of ignorance to what awaits her in the Games.

Haymitch drags Katniss back out the door, past Effie, and into the hallway.

"GET OFF! LET GO OF ME! HAYMITCH!" Katniss shrieks. She begins to frantically try to wiggle her way out of the embrace but Haymitch's arms only get tighter. She begins to flail her arms in an attempt to hit her captor. At first it seems to do nothing, but after feeling her fist contact Haymitch's nose she feels his arms loosen slightly.

He curses in pain before yelling "STOP!" loudly in her ear. He regains his composure and pins her arms down against her sides before continuing to drag her towards the dining car.

Katniss can't move her upper body at all now, but she continues to shout and curse into the air. "Haymitch, you big oaf! Let me go! Dammit I'm not going! Get OFF! EFFIE!" Katniss shouts to Effie for help but Effie simply continues following them down the hall with a pleasant smile on her face.

By the time they finally reach the dining car Katniss has given up. Haymitch is now supporting all of her weight as she simply hangs from his arms, her back and arms pinned against his chest and her feet dragging along the floor.

Peeta is now sitting down at the table and stares as the trio walks into the room. "What happened?" he timidly asks.

"I'm pretty sure Haymitch broke the door, a door that belongs to the _Capitol_." Effie's voice rises and she finishes with a glare directed at Haymitch. He's too busy trying to place a completely limp Katniss in a chair at the table to even hear their exchange.

When Katniss is finally seated Haymitch pushes her chair up to the table, looks her in the eyes and threatens, "Don't. Move. Or I'll tie you down." Effie looks appalled at just the thought.

Katniss sneers at Haymitch as he takes his seat next to Peeta, who he gives a pleasant and accomplished smile. Peeta doesn't reply and quickly looks down to the filled plate placed before him by a Capitol worker.

"Damn. Now I can eat." Haymitch says with a satisfied sigh.

Just as Haymitch begins to bring his fork up to his mouth Effie glances at her watch, "Oh no we're late! It's time to go!" she shouts before slamming his hand back down onto the table and jumping from her seat. Not hearing any footsteps behind her, she turns around just in time to see Haymitch drop his head to the table and moan.

**Ok, so I wasn't completely sure how to end it but there you go! Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for making Peeta seem like a quiet little wimp. Lol! Reviews are welcomed!**


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